BCAHL Meets Ministers

During August, BCAHL Chair Bobbe Wood and I had the opportunity to meet with our two new Ministers – the Honourable Ida Chong, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport and the Honourable Mary McNeil, Minister of State for the Olympics and ActNowBC.

Scott McDonald, Executive Director of the BC Lung Association joined us for the meeting with Minister McNeil and we were able to provide her with an update of some of the exciting work the Alliance and our partners have undertaken — which now touches 130 BC communities. She, like others, reminded us that stories about how these activities have impacted the lives of individuals and communities are most important and we have plenty of those to share!!

Of course, we are all aware of the challenging financial times the province is facing. Minister McNeil advised us that ActNow BC would not be able to continue funding all its previous activities but remained committed to the importance of its work to promote healthy living and encourages all ministries to look at how their activities and policies can contribute to healthy living goals.

At our meeting with Minister Chong, Suzanne Strutt, CEO of the BC Recreation and Parks Association joined us as we briefed the Minister on the work underway to promote healthy eating, encourage physical activity and reduce smoking. She too reiterated that the tough financial situation would mean reductions in many of the grants and contributions traditionally made by her Ministry. However, she assured us of the government’s commitment to healthy living and that all Ministries are supposed to ensure that healthy living is considered whenever policies or programs are put forward.

BCAHL will need to be creative as we explore opportunities to advance policies and programs for healthy living and continue to work with a variety of partners to support this work.

Stay tuned as we share more of our ideas and welcome yours!!

Mary Collins
Director, BC Alliance for Healthy Living Secretariat
September 1 2009